What are you guys lighting your Night Planes with?

[BikeRacer]

I think I'm gonna stick some LEDs on my 100cc Pilot Extra and can't seem to figure out the best way to do it. I found a company off google called AfterDark L.e.d. with a good looking kit. I shot them an email for a price with no response after a week, so now I'm back to square one.

I was thinking about some 12v white led sticky back strips that people just stick on the outsides. Instead, I want to mount them to brackets or the side force generators maybe to shine back on the plane like the kits I used to see online once upon a time. Think they would be bright enough or is there a better option? There are also some 3 watt leds from hobbyking that might work, but they have a huge heatsink on the back. I could mount those on some carbon rods or something, but I have not idea if they would work.

Ideas???

 

[BikeRacer]

http://www.afterdarkled.com/products/airplanes/giant.html This is the kit I was trying to price. Something like this would be ideal, but I can't find any others anywhere else.

 

[BikeRacer]

I just got a call from the guy at the website, super nice guy. He informed me that his kits weren't quite up tot he task of illuminating my size of plane. He recommended me to Aurora RC. I'm looking there now...

 

[Xpress]

How much light you throw onto your airplane is up to you. Aurora makes probably the brightest lighting systems out there so if it's super illumination then they're the kits you want. For a guy like me, that's far too much light and I'd probably chase after something that's a lot softer as far as light goes. Lots of people using Aurora though.

 

[BikeRacer]

Hm, that's an interesting thought. Do you have any experience with other setups? The aurora kit is fairly pricey, but if it's a good quality set, I would probably buy it. If I could save some change and only loose some light, I would be totally down.

 

[pawnshopmike]

Here you go.

http://www.redwingrc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_7&products_id=511

A friend of mine just put a set on a 100cc plane and they work great.

 

[Xpress]

Hm, that's an interesting thought. Do you have any experience with other setups? The aurora kit is fairly pricey, but if it's a good quality set, I would probably buy it. If I could save some change and only loose some light, I would be totally down.

My lighting system is a custom made unit with off the shelf components. I don't recall which LED's I used but they can be operated through a wide voltage range which lets you dim them down or crank up the intensity.

 

[BikeRacer]

http://www.topledlight.com/ I found this LED supplier which looks like it may be a good DIY alternative. I'm always good with saving money and building it myself. They have some dim able drivers if need be. I could just mount the lights to some carbon rod I already have and go to town. Or maybe some brass tube, I need to look and see how much o a factor the heat will be.

The redwing rc lights look good too. They are a simpler easier install than the aurora, but maybe slightly less bright which is fine.

 

[Xpress]

Keep in mind you may also need to use an appropriate resistor for each LED depending on which LED bulb you go with. I tend to use superbrightleds.com for my LED needs.

 

[BikeRacer]

I was wondering about that. I saw some of them seem to require a driver which is included in the aurora kit, but I didn't see one in the redwing kit. I'll check that site out and see if I can figure it out.